Goody,Polanyi and Eurasia: An Unfinished Project in Comparative Historical Economic Anthropology

Goody's essay overlaps with his recent work on the “search for metals” and, more generally, with his many books expounding the commonalities of Eurasian history. His critique of Eurocentrism remains invaluable. This review article argues that his emphasis on diffusion can be usefully supplemented with a concept of civilization, to facilitate comparative structural analysis. Goody's perspective might also be enhanced by an engagement with the literature on “Axial Age” cosmologies and with substantivist economic anthropology. It is worth revisiting Karl Polanyi's efforts to grasp the position of the economy in society, in order to recover in the neoliberal present the long-run Eurasian dialectic between redistribution and market exchange.     

Enhancing the Sustainability and Earthquake Resistance of Confined Masonry Dwellings: The Case of El Salvador

The seismic vulnerability of housing stock in El Salvador was demonstrated during the recent 2001 earthquakes. Relative to other types of common residential construction, confined masonry dwellings performed well. A coordinated pilot study was conducted with the objective of improving the seismic resistance of this form of construction while reducing associated costs and greenhouse gas emissions. Laboratory tests examined brick strength in relation to firing temperature and duration. Analytical studies examined the potential for voided bricks to improve seismic performance, the reduction in demands associated with stiffening the roof diaphragm, and demands imposed on the roof bracing system. This pilot study identifies the potential for voided bricks to reduce construction costs and greenhouse gas emissions with negligible effects on performance. The addition of end-bay diagonal bracing at the roof level resulted in significant performance enhancements.     

Late Archaic wells on the Gila River Indian Community,Arizona

Eight prehistoric wells dug to a depth of ∼2 m below the modern ground surface were found in the alluvial sediments of McClellan Wash on Gila River Indian Community in southern Arizona. Charcoal from the sediments filling the wells yielded radiocarbon ages of ∼1000 B.C. The time in which wells were dug coincides with a period of general regional aridity and high ENSO activity in the American Southwest. Digging to access water may have occurred in response to period(s) of resource uncertainty, or as a logistical activity that engaged increasingly resource-tethered Late Archaic/Early Agricultural populations. These activities laid the foundation for agricultural practices that eventually became the dominant mode of subsistence in the low-lying areas of the Sonoran Desert.     

Agroforestry on an Active Volcanic Small Island in Indonesia: Prospering with Adversity

This paper draws on the literature on agroforestry, disaster risk reduction, and livelihoods of people on small islands as it applies to a community prospering in conditions of adversity in Kinali village on Siau Island, Indonesia. Siau Island produces between one‐third and one‐half of all nutmeg and mace exported from Indonesia. The Kinali community has adopted strategies that enable it to prosper in spite of the risks of living on a small island with an active volcano. The paper charts the sociocultural dynamics of the village and examines how local coping mechanisms based on an agroforestry economy have assisted villagers in dealing with the multiple hazards and constraints arising from the biophysical characteristics of their island. The paper thus contributes to more informed responses to managing volcanic risk.     

‘Looked-after’ young people's voices an actor-network theory analysis

This article offers an empirical case study of ways in which ‘looked-after’ young people responded in focus groups about taking part in a survey task. These research participants are deemed by the state as in need of protection. We demonstrate that despite their vulnerable status, they are immensely resilient and capable of contributing to debates about research participation. Through the application of actor-network theory, we outline conglomerations of actor-networks involved with the materiality of their agency.     

The Campbell Committee and the origins of ‘deregulation’ in Australia

The 1981 Australian Financial System Inquiry, known as the Campbell Committee, is widely seen as the start of the reform movement of the 1980s and 1990s. Accounts of its origins have been dominated by a debate about which policy actor can take credit. This paper utilises cabinet and Reserve Bank archives to reassess the origins of the Campbell Committee. The inquiry had its origins in an earlier attempt by the Whitlam government to take federal control of the regulation for non-bank financial institutions and the building society crisis of the mid-1970s. In its response to these political and economic challenges we can identify the moment in which the Fraser cabinet turned towards market-based reform. The political decisions made in the context of crisis set the path for regulatory change in subsequent decades, particularly in the area of prudential regulation, where we have seen regulatory consolidation and expansion rather than ‘deregulation’.